Politics and Government

4:30 pm

Tue March 31, 2015

Doctors in Oklahoma would be required to check a new prescription drug database before prescribing certain addictive drugs under a bill signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin.

After the Senate voted 35-10 on Tuesday for the bill, Fallin held an impromptu signing ceremony for the measure that has been a priority of hers for several years. It the first bill she has signed this legislative session, and it will take effect Nov. 1.

University of Oklahoma President David Boren has named former state Senator and Representative Jabar Shumate as OU's Vice President for the University, a newly created role that will focus on diversity and outreach.

"I knew that this person had to be someone in whom I had complete trust. Complete trust in their actions, complete trust in their motives, complete trust in their good judgment," Boren said during a Tuesday press conference.

Nowhere near the 50,000 anticipated education supporters turned out Monday for a rally at the state Capitol - estimates indicate the crowd was closer to 5,000 - but the teachers that were there made their presence known.

Wearing T-shirts from their hometown schools, attendees wandered the halls of the Capitol and congregated outside legislators' offices to tell lawmakers that their shrinking budgets are making it difficult to give kids a quality education - and they need more funding.

In November 2013, Oklahoma state seismologist Austin Holland was called into a meeting with University of Oklahoma President David Boren and Continental Resources Chairman and oil billionaire Harold Hamm, EnergyWire’s Mike Sorgahan reported earlier this month.

Manager's Desk

7:20 pm

Mon March 30, 2015

I have an update for our third week of this non-traditional fundraiser. Our fundraising goal is $180,000, and as of Monday afternoon, the tally stands at about $100,000, with over 600 donors. This is exciting!

Oklahoma News

4:26 pm

Mon March 30, 2015

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Southeastern Oklahoma State University, alleging the school in Durant discriminated against a transgender professor and then fired her after she complained.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Oklahoma City, the department alleges the university denied assistant professor Rachel Tudor a promotion despite a recommendation from her department chair and other tenured faculty from her department.

2:14 pm

Mon March 30, 2015

In the post, which has since been deleted, Sigma Alpha Epsilon national president Brad Cohen noted that there is a difference between formally learning a racist chant and hearing and repeating such a chant. He called Boren's statements during the press conference "inflammatory and self serving."

Sigma Alpha Epsilon national president Brad Cohen posted a Facebook status criticizing comments made about national organization by OU President David Boren during a press conference Friday. In the post, Cohen noted that there is a difference between formally learning a racist chant and hearing and repeating such a chant.

Oklahoma News

1:37 pm

Mon March 30, 2015

Colorado's attorney general says the Nebraska and Oklahoma lawsuit that asks the U.S. Supreme court to curtail Colorado's new recreational marijuana law could have dire consequences for all three states.

Attorney General Cynthia Coffman says if the U.S. Supreme Court sides with the two states that border Colorado, the decision would take away the regulatory system that Colorado has built, while leaving the vote to legalize marijuana intact.

The Two-Way

12:18 pm

Mon March 30, 2015

Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long (left) and House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, both Republicans, discuss their plans for clarifying the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act during a news conference today at the Statehouse in Indianapolis.